Are you ready to take the step up from a soldier, to a true HELLDIVER?

We welcome recruits from any background, be it PS3, PS4 or PS Vita. For a recruitment fee of only $19.99 you can become a permanent part of the scalpel of humanity’s military strength (disclaimer: survival cannot be guaranteed by the Super Earth Armed Forces).HELLDIVERS is availabe cross-buy (Pay once to get access to all platforms).

SUPER EARTH PS+ SPECIAL

As part of PlayStation’s Spring Fever promotion, PS+ subscribers will get an additional 10% off during launch week only (3/3 – 3/9), meaning that PS+ members can get their hands on HELLDIVERS for only $17.99!

Early recruits will receive special HELLDIVERS Ranger training. For a short period of time you have the chance to grab the HELLDIVERS Limited Edition Bundle which will include the Ranger Pack add-on at no added cost. Specially trained in scouting and assassination of high value targets, these Rangers are the first to drop into the unknown. It comes with the Ranger Uniform, a LHO-63 ‘Camper’ rifle, and a ’Humblebee’ Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Stratagem.

Liberating the galaxy is no single individual’s responsibility – HELLDIVERS features full cross-play, cross-chat and cross-save between the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. Bring up to three friends from other neighbourhoods and fight locally or online for spreading democracy together!

And remember; keep a lookout for more HELLDIVERS content updates in the future!

Important safety tips for new Helldivers:

Remember; friendly fire isn’t.

Taking out enemies before they eliminate your squad has proven to substantially increase the likelihood of survival.

HELLDIVERS’ uniforms are not fire proof.

Being hit by objects, such as Hellpods, launched at supersonic speeds from orbit may cause bodily harm.

Other instances beside the government may try to spread false propaganda.

To answer a bunch of your most pressing questions we’ve put together this Q&A with the most common ones. Have a look if yours has been answered and if not, feel free to ask it in the link provided in the bottom.

We will keep updating this Q&A with any question that we can reply to.

Developer:
Arrowhead Game Studios

Publisher:
Sony Computer Entertainment America

Genre:
Hardcore, cooperative, twin stick shooter.

Release date:
March 3 – US, March 4 – EU, March 5 – Asia.

Players:
1–4

Platforms:
PS3, PS4 and VITA systems.

Dev team size:
Around 10-12 people.

Price:$19.99, cross-buy.

Why was it delayed?
As you’ve all noticed, the first tentative plans of a summer release were replaced with ‘it’ll be done when it’s done’. As the game grew in quality and complexity, so did Sony’s eagerness to support our quest for the Best Game Ever™. Helldivers needed cooler stratagems, more weapons, better enemies, richer worlds, more choices! But with more complexity comes also a higher barrier to understanding the game. The testers all reported the same thing: Helldivers now needed a seriously improved tutorial and user interface.

Then there was the issue of getting the game to run smoothly on the VITA. Quite a challenge with a small team that hasn’t touched the platform before and with many small things to optimize.
We’re happy to say the game is massively improved from what it would have been during summer. Now we’re excited to the point of bursting to finally release Helldivers to all of you!

Will there be a pre-order?
This is still to be announced. We will update as soon as we can.

Will Helldivers offer Cross-Play?
Yes, between PS4, PS3 and VITA, with full Cross-Save and Cross-Chat.

Will it have local multiplayer or only online play?
Helldivers offers 4-player local and online co-op multiplayer, and any combination in between (except for the Vita which doesn’t really support local co-op since it only has one controller). You can have two on the PS4, one on the PS3 and one on the PS VITA for example.

Can you drop in and out?
Yes, at any time another player can join the action. Just don’t stand under their Hellpods.

Will it have friendly fire?
In true Arrowhead spirit, Helldivers features full “friendly” fire, allowing you to “accidentally” kill your friends, again.

Will it support Playstation TV?
Not from release but further details are not decided.

Is it running at 60fps on PS4?We are targeting 60fps on PS4 and targeting 30fps on PS3 and Vita.

Will it have a Platinum trophy?
Yes!

Will there be a Beta before release?
No. But we’ll be happy to deliver you a full experience from the start instead, playing a polished game with everyone else. No risk of growing tired of the game before it’s even done. Much better than a beta! ;)

Will Helldivers be released on PC or Xbox?
There are no plans for other platforms right now, but we will keep you updated if there are any news.

What enemies will you face?
There are of course the space Bugs, a crustacean-like race of varying sizes and types. Then we have the Cyborg nation, a race of bionically augmented separatists with heavy armor and weapons. But we want to keep some of the surprise until you play the game! :)

Is there any character customization? Are there female characters?
You will unlock new equipment and gear as you rise in ranks. There are not only female Helldivers, there are male too!

Is there a single player offline mode?You can play the game offline with 1-4 local players. However when played offline, mission progress will not contribute to the global galactic campaign.

What is the galactic campaign?By playing Helldivers, every player in the world participates in a global meta campaign called the Galactic Campaign. Each time a player completes a planet their progress is uploaded and their contribution to the Galactic Campaign will be registered. From time to time, the enemy will try to counterattack, spawning events where you have to defend a city planet from invading enemies. These events give double experience, and should the community fail to defend a planet, the region will be lost. Each Galactic Campaign lasts 4-6 weeks and the challenge of the campaign is dependent on the performance of the entire community in the previous campaign.

How do you plan to support Helldivers after launch? Will there be Downloadable Content or micro transactions?
The after-launch support has not yet been decided, but as with Magicka we do want to support the game with various updates in the coming year. It all depends on what happens after release, if people want more different enemies to fight – that may be what we’re aiming for. Helldivers is not a game of micro transactions.

Arrowhead Game Studios in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today signed the Declaration of War between Super Earth and the intergalactic alien threat.

WE ARE NOW PREPARING FOR WAR

With immediate effect from March 3rd, 2015, Helldivers are to be dispatched to the front lines of PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems.

The Federation has decided that the bug threat has become too great. Senator John W. Killjoy declared that “The bugs have been a plague in this galaxy for far too long, they must now be eradicated before they spread to other worlds.”
With the Helldiver troops spearheading the assault we are confident of success.

SUPER EARTH NOW CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE RECRUITMENT OF MORE HELLDIVERS

All hopes lie within the success of the Helldivers; the only chance for the survival of Super Earth, expect an action-packed, cross-play, all-out shooter.

As part of the elite unit, in the upcoming weeks we will provide further information about how YOU can prepare for this threat.

WE REMIND YOU — FREEDOM NEVER SLEEPS

Make sure you are prepared to #SpreadDemocracy when March 3rd arrives.

]]>http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/war-declared-helldivers-to-engage-alien-threat-on-march-3rd/feed/0Tuesday Tips: A Sound Designer’s portfoliohttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/tuesday-tips-a-sound-designers-portfolio/
http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/tuesday-tips-a-sound-designers-portfolio/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 15:10:36 +0000Lucy Armelinhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/?p=1886Continue reading →]]>So for a while now we’ve been asking you guys to send in your questions to us via our Facebook post (don’t hesitate to send more!). Due to the quality and nature of the questions we have decided to split them up into different topics, so each week we can give them the attention and detail which they deserve. This week’s topic is sound and the question is:

How would you describe a good portfolio for a Sound Designer?

Firstly there is no completely right or wrong way to showcase a portfolio since all are unique and personal, but there are tips and tricks you can follow to showcase your portfolio to the best of its abilities.

Within a video portfolio your best work must be at the beginning and not the end, NOT in chronological order. It is a common mistake which is seen often where the best work is saved until last; anyone looking at your portfolio does not want to have to spend valuable time sifting through the multiple mediocre projects until they hit gold. A lot of the time they will give up halfway through if the content is not of a particularly consistent standard or appear sloppy.

And something we encounter from time to time; If you’re using a trailer from another game but showcasing your own sounds instead – make sure you’re not doing a worse job than the original.

“It is a common mistake which is seen often where the best work is saved until last”

We want to see what knowledge you have and what skills you can demonstrate in terms of both hardware and software. This means that in a portfolio we look for a wide variety of unique and exciting sounds which really shows off your skills. However it is important to remember that old saying “jack of all trades, master of none” – it’s definitely better to have a good standard of material over the whole of your portfolio, even if that means slightly reducing it in size, rather than submitting sub-par work.

Passion is a key term thrown around a lot to the point of cliche, yet remains relevant. We want to see what you are most passionate about, whether it’s xxx, xxx or xxx. Even if you do not have any collaborative sound projects, anything that you have done by yourself in your free time is good – it shows dedication and perseverance to what is important to you.

“If you excel at a few areas then an apparent weakness in another is not a major problem most of the time”

Contrary to what most people believe, we also want to know what your strong sides are and your weak sides. Companies do not expect you to be an expert in everything, that’s what on the job training is for if you are applying for an internship or junior position. What they do need is to weigh up how much (and to what extent) training will be needed. If you excel at a few areas then an apparent weakness in another is not a major problem most of the time – everyone has to start learning somewhere.

It goes without saying that portfolios with credible previous work are going to stand out more, though if you happen to have made awesomely amazing home projects they will of course be appreciated too. Beyond the actual work we look for what you have learnt from it and what lessons you’ve taken away. If something didn’t quite turn out as you expected but you came back with a solution or fix (no matter how unconventional) and demonstrated that it has worked, we are going to be impressed by your initiative and willingness to learn.

Lastly don’t be afraid to show yourself off – what are your goals with sound design? This question can directly tie in with the company you are applying for. Oh! And one more thing – practice, practice, practice! No one becomes an expert overnight. Someone once said 10,000 hours of practice are required to be an expert at something and this applies to all areas of life!

If you want some further reading here is a good article found on Gamasutra. Otherwise goodluck!

]]>http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/tuesday-tips-a-sound-designers-portfolio/feed/0The Mysterious Delivery!http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/the-mysterious-delivery/
http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/the-mysterious-delivery/#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 17:42:33 +0000Lucy Armelinhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/?p=1924Continue reading →]]>The office was abuzz this week with a mysterious delivery. Like cats to boxes we gathered around the large package on the table which took two people to lift up. Much “ooh-ing” and “ahh-ing” commenced as we began opening the delivery cautiously (we expected the worst – like a giant glitter bomb – since some members of this office have a very weird sense of humour). Lo and behold it was revealed to be six huge crates of Lego!

I didn’t expect Lego to cause this much of a stir, but considering many people here are big kids, this really shouldn’t come as any surprise. We did actually try and hold off on opening the crates for a while since the person who ordered them was not present, however that particular notion didn’t last very long and by the end of the day the first few things had already been built. I’m not going to lie, there were all types of crazy builds with many mixed results to say the least…

The conference table is now covered in multicolour rainbow bricks of varying shapes and sizes. Someone joked that the pain of Lego stays with you throughout your life; when you are a child you hurt your fingers digging through the pieces in the boxes but as parents the pain transfers to your feet when you stand on the pieces which your children have left on the floor. So far there have been none of these accidents yet but I’m counting down the hours and waiting for the profanities to start.

Interestingly, what has been made clear through the arrival of the Lego is the different types of people here at Arrowhead – the OCD sorters, the perfectionists, the imaginatives and the downright strange – but the beauty of Lego is that it provides us with the perfect situation to all get together and be creative during lunchtime meetings.

However, all good things come with their own problems: we’ve now found that we are running out of bricks as no one wants to destroy their “beautiful” creations. To address this problem (and to enhance the office’s competitive senses) I’m trying to petition a weekly Lego competition with different rules from time to time with builds consisting of just one colour, animals/buildings/cars only category, freestyle etc.

Hello everyone, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Lucy and I am the new communications intern at Arrowhead, a.k.a the latest working peon to join the ranks. With some very exciting happenings going on at the Arrowhead Studios in the upcoming few months you will be hearing a lot more from me – I will be bringing you all the latest thrilling announcements, hot news and much, much more so keep watching this space!

My first week here is now drawing to a close but, I have to admit, has been quite the learning experience. For starters I have learnt NEVER EVER to use the last of the toilet paper without later refilling, for fear of inducing a rage-filled Skype office chat.

That aside, and probably more importantly, I have learnt that I am one lucky person to be a part of the wonderful team here. Not many people can honestly say they enjoy getting up to go to work in the morning. (Incidently, if you’re thinking of applying to Arrowhead or similar make sure you check out Rob’s post about artist applications!)

Working with computer games on a daily basis is a dream come true for a lot of people, however, most people also fail to understand how much work goes behind the scenes. Not just in terms of creating a game, but with the daily mundane tasks which are central to any business – preparation, planning and organization. Hard work pays off though and with an exciting few months ahead the office is now continually buzzing, trying to deliver the best gaming experiences possible which we hope you will love.

My first week was eventful but I quickly found the key to success: make friends fast and enjoy the quirks which they possess. One of the first questions I received was “So, what are the really weird things you’ve noticed here?”. Honestly nothing has shocked me, everyone is disappointingly normal and nice. Sadly there are no characters depicted like in the movies, lurking in the office corner like some sort of Sméagol or South Park’s Jenkins.

Oh, apart from the whole “no shoe” culture which is a thing here. Now that IS weird to me.

My name’s Rob, I’m an Art Director here at Arrowhead. We get a lot of applications for artist positions, and I’m the guy who usually sits down and reviews them. It takes quite a bit of time, and there are some things I see again and again from people applying. I thought I’d pour out some of my thoughts onto the Internet about what I feel are do’s and don’ts when applying for an art job. Others may disagree with what I’ve written here, and that’s totally cool; like I say, these are just my thoughts. To make things interesting, I’ve made some animated gifs for you too, hoorah.

Let’s begin.

Check your email before you send it! I’m always surprised when the font is different in different parts of the email; sometimes I’ve seen three different typefaces used in one email. Some emails are a mix of font size too. If you’re applying for an art job, make sure your email isn’t a mess. Don’t use Comic Sans.

Get the name of the studio you’re applying to correct. It’s not hard. You’ll not look like a fool, and will be closer to getting a job.

Copy-paste emails are pretty obvious and show us that you’re not that bothered about joining and are just sending emails out to lots of companies. We can tell if you have sent us the same email as many others.

If you do send an email to a lot of companies, make sure you don’t put them all in the “to” field. I’ve seen emails where I could see all the companies the sender had applied to.

Research the company first, play their games a bit or at least watch videos of them.

Make your portfolio easy to get to from your email. I don’t read emails fully; the first thing I do is find the link to your site. Make sure this is visible. In my opinion a good email sums up quickly your experience and then gives me a link to your portfolio.

I also tend not to read cover letters. People disagree with me on this, but I will look at your portfolio, make a decision on whether or not we’d like to contact you, and then bring you in for an interview. A lot of the stuff in your personal letter we can get a feel for, or ask, in the interview.

Be mindful of how you behave when it comes to contacting a studio. Have patience; we tend to look at applications once a week, and we have a lot to go through. If you don’t get a reply super quick, do bear in mind that the company you’re applying to probably has far less time than you think to do this sort of stuff (we have games to make too y’know).

I’m really sorry, we cannot give feedback on each applicant’s portfolio. A lot of people ask for this and I would absolutely love to have the time to do so, but yeah, we need to get on with making games. Please understand; ask friends, or online on forums.

I’m not fussed about education. It really doesn’t matter to me what school you went to, or what course you did; what matters is the quality of your art. We employ a range of people from different backgrounds, some studied art through university, and some are self trained. As long as you make good art, it doesn’t really matter to me how you got there.

We generally prioritize quality of art over anything else. It’s really great if you have experience, as this means you’ll fit right in quickly, and we know you can work in a team. Experience can be working on a mod (loads of us are from modding backgrounds) or at a professional studio, but don’t worry if you’re applying for your first position, we’ll spend the same amount of time on your application.

Check that the link you send us to your portfolio actually works. Sometimes people send us links that point to broken sites, it sounds crazy, but it does happen.

Your site should be fast to load (again, lack of time available to us) and showcase your best work immediately if possible.

Bear in mind how your portfolio pages look; you’re applying for an art job after all, and if your site is hella-ugly, you’ll lose points.

Filter out the crappy stuff and show only your best work. Less is more, so they say. It’s better to show us how good you are now, and not how bad you were back when you were learning.

When it comes to showreels, don’t use music. I usually have to mute the audio (unless it’s animation with lip syncing stuff) because your taste in music probably isn’t something I want to listen to in a meeting room, going through portfolios. You can tell me about the great music you listen to once we’ve hired you.

Long turn-arounds of models bore me. I’m sorry, but they do. Seeing the same asset spinning around 6 times is just boring. Once or twice is enough to see how awesome an asset is.

I look at artistic talent when viewing peoples portfolios and showreels. Generally, wireframes of assets don’t excite me. You can be taught how to make your topology better, but you can’t be as easily taught the fundamentals of form, composition, colour, lighting etc; and these are the things I look for. Show us your imagination, and your passion for 3D art.

So there you go, my opinions. Some points apply across studios, and some are a bit more specific to us; but hopefully you’ve found them all interesting and worthy of a few minutes of your time and thoughts.

Please feel free to leave comments and questions and I’ll do my best to reply!

]]>http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/artist-applications-dos-and-donts/feed/1We’re back! (We weren’t really gone though.)http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/were-back-we-werent-really-gone-though/
http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/were-back-we-werent-really-gone-though/#commentsFri, 16 Jan 2015 17:30:20 +0000Malin Hedströmhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/?p=1707Continue reading →]]>A brand new year! Doesn’t 2015 sound so much more future than 2014? Isn’t it time for travels to Mars, exoskeletons, food in pill form and hoverboards? We think it’s a great year for releasing games. Maybe a sci-fi future game would be nice.

We’re all at the office again with a running start. It seems this year’s bonus holiday has gotten everyone all fired up to get going with new things and we’ve done great progress in this week alone.
We’ve taken measures to improve the office and workspace for everyone as well as started working on defining what Arrowhead really is and how we will work from here. These are exciting times and we will continue sharing news and our vision with you during the year.
And on top of that it’s Friday! What could possibly go wrong?

Coffe machine conversation commence!

The Gauntlet team is busy tweaking the game, responding to community feedback and we also have some new things cooking that we think you will really enjoy!
Remember that you can always talk to us on our social media channels or the Gauntlet Steam forum where we try to catch as much feedback as we can.

Friday show & tell

For Helldivers we’re smoothing out the final kinks to make sure we get the best game ever. We’ll soon have all kinds of news to share with you and we’re really looking forward to the release now!
We will be hanging out much more in the Playstation forum from now on, and you can pop in there to talk to us as well. Here’s a link.

]]>http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/were-back-we-werent-really-gone-though/feed/0Happy New 2015! —Arrowhead stylehttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/happy-new-2015-arrowhead-style/
http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/happy-new-2015-arrowhead-style/#commentsThu, 01 Jan 2015 15:30:46 +0000Malin Hedströmhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/?p=1678Continue reading →]]>A very happy 2015 to you all! Let’s make sure this year is an even better one than the last. We are getting ready for many improvements and new things and hope to share them all with you duing the year.

We asked everyone to send in a picture of their celebration, no matter how or where in the world. Here’s the collection, for your enjoyment!

]]>http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/happy-new-2015-arrowhead-style/feed/0A Silly Yule from Arrowheadhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/a-silly-yule-from-arrowhead/
http://arrowheadgamestudios.com/a-silly-yule-from-arrowhead/#commentsThu, 25 Dec 2014 18:45:50 +0000Malin Hedströmhttp://arrowheadgamestudios.com/?p=1627Continue reading →]]>We all wish you a wonderful yuletime and holiday with family and friends! We hope we may enlighten your 2015 with more fun, challenging co-op games.

A greeting to all of you, from almost all of us at the office:Ah there it is, the true yuletime angst that only a northern Swedish industrial town will provideOh you bastard